JAMES HERMAN: Might County Become Dish, Texas, Of North?

I had the pleasure of spending time with Mayor Calvin Tillman of Dish, Texas, when I drove him to speak with local officials Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, during the day and in the evening to a public event at Oneonta’s Unitarian Universalist Church.
Dish receives emissions from 11 natural-gas compressor stations and many pipelines. The results are seen in serious health issues for quite a few residents of this little town.  High levels of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds have been recorded which are above safe levels.
My most poignant personal experience with Mayor Tillman occurred driving up Route 205 to Cooperstown.
Calvin looking out at a cornfield says: “In Texas you could not drive straight through at 55-60 mph on a road like this.”
I ask why not?
“Because there would be so much heavy-duty tanker-truck traffic from the gas wells. These corn fields would make perfect well sites.”
The Marcellus Shale (one of several target strata for the gas companies) in New York State alone is over 3.5 times the size of its relative, the Texas Barnett shale. 
It suddenly hit me how much my life will change if natural gas drilling proceeds. Like many people in Otsego County, I travel Routes 205 and 28 many times in a month.  A lot of gas leases border both 205 and 28.
Just imagine Route 28 with the 350,000+/- tourists a summer traveling to Cooperstown and waiting on the massive tankers carrying water, toxic chemicals and heavy-duty equipment.
There can be little doubt that traffic congestion, road deterioration, accidents and pollution will result. What will this mean to tourism in Cooperstown?
What happens when a tanker carrying toxic waste water from the wells has a spill on the road? Is Otsego County or New York State ready to pay for the clean up? Spills are the most common accident in natural gas production. Colorado recorded 1,549 spills between 2003 to 2008, about one a day. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission)
Mayor Tillman later stated that, to handle the heavy equipment and tanker traffic, roads must have a gravel base with 8 inches of asphalt on top. Presently state highways like 205 and 28 have about 2 inches of asphalt.  (Delta Engineering will be performing a road assessment in several towns in 2011-12)
That would be a very expensive highway, especially if tourists just get disgusted with the industrial level traffic and decide to go elsewhere.

Jim Herman, who lives in Hartwick, is OCCA Conservationist of the Year.